Lilium
by Enchantable
Summary: Before the events of DMC4, when demonic forces break free of a secret Order lab, they threaten the safety of Kyrie. Its up to Nero to rescue her. What happens in the fight will change all their lives forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so this story takes place BEFORE the events of the game. Back when Nero had two normal arms, before that whole demonic arm thing. This will have Nero/Kyrie in it but I wanted to show more of Credo too. I think he's an underused character and i wanted to explore his relationship with Nero, Kryie and the Order. **

**Onwards!**

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With a snort and a groan, Nero rolled over onto his back, his arms clopping on either side of the narrow bed he was laying on.

The quarters of the Knights of the Order of the Sword did not live in glamorous quarters. Anywhere else and their home quarters would probably have been a monastery, housing for the pious. Of course in Fortuna it was their headquarters. Still it was a crowded place, Nero had been in closets before that were bigger than the room he called 'home'. Beyond a narrow bed, closet and a desk that was used for weaponry rather than books, nothing would fit in the room. Still as a Knight of the Order, Nero didn't have a whole lot of material needs and certainly none that required an excess of space. The room suited him just fine, especially because he, unlike most of the others, got to have a window.

There was an ancient alarm system that ran through the Order's housing, a series of bells that in Nero's opinion were far louder than they had any right to be. Fortunately they were loud enough to wake even the dead and certainly a young man whose sleep had been compared to a comatoase state. Of course Nero also happened to sleep with his headphones on, music blasting loud enough to echo through his room and, thanks to the Order's less than thick walls, the rooms on either side of him. But those damn bells would get through even the loudest of music. Nero didn't mind, the music wasn't to keep out the obnoxious chime of bells, it was to keep out something else.

So when the bells echoed through the Order, Nero's eyes bleerily opened. All the training in the world and he was pretty sure he'd still hate waking up. Groaning he pushed himself up, his hands pulling the headphones off his ears. He could still hear the music combined with the obnoxious echo of the bells. Reaching out he hit the pause button on his music player, silencing the device as his eyes moved around the room, looking at the door. Normally by now he would have been through it, running towards the problem but not this time. He'd been on suspension for the past week. He'd been a total idiot and taken a stupid risk which would've been enough but in addition he'd also taken a serious injury to his forearm. His grip still wasn't what it should have been.

Still a bell was a bell. Pushing himself to his feet he grabbed a shirt and threw it on, foregoing his usual coat in favor of just his red hoodie. He tugged on his boots and looped his headphones around his neck. He left the sleeves down, covering his forearms before he walked out of his door into the hallway. It was deserted, all the Knights who had been on call were obviously already fighting whatever the problem was. Locking his door behind him, Nero walked down the hallway towards the main part of the building, intent on finding Credo. If nothing else Credo would at least confirm that he wasn't needed for the situation. And if Credo let him go then the situation would be especially dire. Still, something about the place wasn't right. Usually there would be one or two Knights milling around. Now there were none, as if everyone had been thrown at this mission.

"Credo?" he called looking around, "Credo where are you?" he looked around, heading to the main part of the Church, "Credo?"

"I want the primary reports and battle damaged _now_," Nero turned towards the sound of Credo's voice, "there are enough men out there to find a needle in a haystack, why can they not find her and the boy?!"

"We are doing our best--"

"Your best isn't good enough!"

Nero broke into a run down the long hallway. There was only one thing that could put Credo on such an edge in front of other people, in front of his subordinates and that was Kyrie. And if Kyrie was in trouble--Nero forced the thought back, his injured hand curling into a fist as he ran. It still hurt to make a fist, how the hell was he going to hold a sword with any kind of success? Everything in him told him to go back to his room, to not even attempt the fight. And yet he ran onward, bursting through the half closed doors to the room where Credo stood with two men. They all turned and looked at him as he stood there, catching his breath. Credo glanced at the two men, both of whom were looking at Nero with the same disdain that many of the Order looked at him with.

"Go back to your room Nero," Credo said shortly.

"The hell I will! What's going on? Where's Kyrie?"

The two men traded looks before turning their eyes to Credo. Credo glanced at them before looking back at Nero. His eyes moved quickly to Nero's loose hand, as if he could see the muscle and tendon damage with his bare eyes alone, though they both knew he could not. Taking a deep breath, Nero took a step forward, moving away from the door in defiance of Credo's orders. The two men were obviously not happy but Credo seemed to have had enough of their anxious gazes and shifting bodies.

"Get out," he said, "and do not return until you bring me news."

They bowed and quickly were gone, leaving the two of them alone.

"Where's Kyrie?!" Nero repeated loudly.

Credo sighed and looked at the man standing in front of him. His hair might have been white, hell his eyes might have been like silver but Credo didn't think he had ever met a more hot headed man in his life. Hot headed and injured to boot. Neither was something he wanted on a battlefield, neither was something he particularly trusted on a battlefield. Though when it came to Nero, Credo had learned very long ago that the only thing to trust was that whatever he thought was going to happen wouldn't. Oh the job would get done but it would get done in an extremely violent and destructive way. If there was a building, there'd be damage and an artifact would be broken--especially if it had the word priceless in its description. But bystanders wouldn't be hurt and, of course, the demons would be destroyed.

Credo glared before turning back to the table in front of him.

"Where is she?!" Nero roared, his voice echoing in the space as he stepped forward, anger flaring in his eyes, "tell me where she is!"

"Control yourself, Nero," he snapped, "we have enough trouble as it is without you loosing all semblance of control," he strode over to the silver haired man, "you are injured as it is and I will not be sending you out to fight demons when you cannot even hold a weapon."

"You really think that's going to stop me?" Nero demanded, "she's out there, I know she's out there. So the only question that's left is whether I tear the shit out of Fortuna looking for her or you save us both a lot of time and the Order of lot of money and tell me where she is."

"Or perhaps I should simply chain you up," he said, "you are injured and worried. I do not need you storming out onto the battlefield like some hot headed novice and getting more people--including yourself--killed."

Nero clenched his fists as he looked at Credo, hating that he had a valid point. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was that because Credo hadn't denied it, Kyrie had to be involved in whatever was going on. Especially because Credo had sent out almost all the Knights. Credo was a good General, no he was a great general but he was human none the less and right now he was a very worried older brother. For a moment Nero felt almost guilty for worrying him further but he pushed it down. This wasn't about him, nor was it about Credo, it was about Kyrie. Stubbornly he walked forward further, closing the distance between himself and Credo. The table was bare of reports, only a map of Fortuna and the surrounding area. Nero glanced down, looking at the marked out area on the map as surreptitiously as he could before he looked up at Credo.

"You're right, I'm injured," he said holding up his hands, "I'll just go back to the room," he backed out towards the door.

"Do you _really_ think I did not see you look at the map?" Credo questioned. Nero shifted slightly, "Kyrie was last seen just outside the marked region. We cannot find her but reports have come in of a heavy demonic presence there."

"And Kyrie's there?" Nero demanded, his mind one track.

"Possibly," Credo said, "she left this morning informing someone that she was going to be collecting herbs."

"Herbs grow all over those woods! She's probably there," Nero said straitening up.

"Yes and Knights from the Order will ensure her return," he said.

"Yeah, in pieces! I can get her back before any of them reach her!"

"Do you really have such little faith in your comrades?" Credo demanded glaring at him.

"When it comes to Kyrie!" he objected. Credo glared at him. Nero slammed his hand down on the table, "damn it we're wasting time! She could be hurt by now!"

"Yes and I will not add your body to the count," he said, "do you truly think that she would want you to injure yourself further for her sake?"

Nero glared at him, hating that there was more than a little truth in his words. He didn't care though. Not when it came to her, not when it came to Kyrie. He didn't care how bad badly he was injured, nor did he care how badly he would get injured. Just so long as Kyrie was safe--that was all that mattered. He looked at Credo and then at the map, his fist clenching tightly. They both knew that one way or another, Nero was going to be on the battlefield, all that remained to be seen was if he would be there on Orders or not. Credo glanced at the map and then at the younger man before giving a curt nod.

"Your sword is in the third armory," he said, "I suggest you take a lighter blade but--" he trailed off knowing it was probably not going to make a difference as Nero turned and raced from the room, "take that gun with you!" Credo shouted after him, catching just a glance of Nero holding up the aforementioned weapon.

Credo turned back to the map, his hands tightening into fists as he looked at the marked out area. There were marks to represent the current estimate of demons in the area, though there were probably many more by now.

What was not marked on the map was the secret Order lab that rested in the heart of that area.

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**Nero's injury is NOT, I repeat NOT the one that gives him the freaky arm, that's coming. **

**R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry about the delay! I kindasortaforgot about this but here I am! And this is a shorter fic so it'll be done soon-ish. So here's the new chapter!**

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Mud flew up around his boots.

Nero ignored the sound as the Red Queen completed her arc, slicing through the demon that had stood behind him. It disintegrated with a hiss, burning into oblivion--or hell, Nero didn't really care. his mind was focused on one thing and one thing alone: Kyrie. She was in trouble and every stupid demon that stood in front of him was going to be nothing as fast as he could slice. Ducking under the next set of claws that came towards his throat, Nero brought the Blue Rose up and fired into what he assumed was the thing's head. It reeled back, howling as he placed three more rounds in it and sent the thing on its way.

"Damn it, where the hell are these things coming from?" he growled, slicing through three smaller ones.

The forrest was always crawling with demons but this was just ridiculous. They were behind every tree, lurking in every shadow--as if they'd all been told it was time to come out and play. Well if nothing else this explained why all the men Credo sent out weren't finding Kyrie. It was hard to move with all the demons around, much less to actually _look_ for something. And Kyrie had been trained to make herself as small and unobtrusive as possible. To hide when the demon wasn't one she could fight. Panic made his throat tight as he fought through newest mess of the demons. It was taking a long time--too long. What if they'd gotten to Kyrie?

Shoving the thought aside, Nero kicked off the nearest boulder and landed on the back of the demon nearby.

"When you can't go through, gotta go up," he muttered, his boots managing to find some traction on the thing's skin.

The Red Queen quickly severed its spinal chord as he leapt onto the next one. At one point he felt claws dig into his skin through the leather of his boot but he ignored them, stopping only to slash at the claws before bringing his blade around to cut through the next. He'd been in these woods enough to know roughly where he was going--where the map had shown her last location to be. He used the demons to get a vantage point as he cut them down, killing the smaller ones with the fallen bodies of the larger. It was brutal but efficient and his mind was focused on making it to where Kyrie had last been seen. She might not even be there anymore. He could only hope that she was hiding somewhere nearby.

The final large demon he cut through forced him to land on the ground. Gritting his teeth as pain laced up his ankle and wrist, Nero buried the sword in the closest demon as he continued to fight his way into the forrest. This was making no sense. The demons he encountered as he got deeper into the woods weren't as big as the others but they were more, well, advanced. Some were armored, some looked almost _human_, all were much _much_ harder to kill. Kill them he did though, as fast as he could, all the while thinking only of reaching Kyrie's last location. But in the back of his mind he realized he was going to have to tell Credo something was seriously wrong with this place--with these demons.

Something wrapped around his arm.

Nero lashed out with his blade, severing the tentacle. His balance lost, he tumbled backwards, his shoulder striking the ground. Nero gritted his teeth as the mud prevented him from getting any friction and instead sent him sliding along the ground. The landscape tilted abruptly, sending him rocketing downwards. For one sickening second he was air born as the ground dipped and he kept going right along the same path. But what went up came down and before he could brace himself his shoulder slammed into the ground. WIth a grunt, Nero tumbled head over heels towards the eventual bottom of the hill. Finally his back collided with the ground, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Stars dancing in front of his eyes and chest struggling for air, Nero still gripped the Blue Rose, cocking the gun as he tried to get his wits back. When he was certain that no demon was coming at the moment, he lowered the gun and pushed himself to his feet. A quick glance located the Red Queen laying nearby, covered in mud. Swearing, Nero walked over as best he could and picked up the sword, flicking it aside in an attempt to get the mud off of it. Looking around, Nero realized he was at the bottom of a ravine of some kind, mud coating the sloping landscape. He could see the track from where he'd rolled down and felt the mud seeping down his back. Glancing down at his ruined cloths, Nero shook his head. At least he'd get to fuck up the white marble of the Order with this muck.

Wiping his hands down the side of his pants, though he knew it was futile, Nero looked over to at the slope of the sides. He saw his track but what stopped him was another slightly deeper one. As if the person had weighed more than him when they tumbled down. That or they'd been curled around something to protect it. Nero's eyes widened as he ran over to the track, seeing it was only a little older than his own. He looked at the base of the ravine and saw footprints in the mud. His own but another set that belonged to an adult and a third that belonged to a child. Kyrie had come this way, he knew it.

"Kyrie," he turned his head, looking in the direction of the tracks, "Kyrie!" he shouted but no reply came, "hold on," he muttered, taking off at a dead run.

The tracks led him further into the darkness of the forrest. Here the trees were so thick and dense that the light was barely visible. Only patches of faint, sickly yellow peeped through the trees. Barely able to see where he was going, Nero kept running, his eyes on the ground as he followed the trail. The landscape was rough from the mud but Nero charged through it. Before long he knew he wasn't going to be able to walk on his ankle for a while and Credo was going to give him some self-rightous speech _while_ it was being set but the need to make sure she was alright overrode every ache and pain. Darkness took the tunnel for a moment as he ran but he pushed through it and came out the other side.

He found himself standing in a circular pit of some kind. The ground here wasn't pure mud like before but caked over with dirt and hardened form impact. Nero tightened his grip on the Red Queen as he looked around the strange place. The walls were mostly lost to the shadows but what he could see of them they were high and imposing. This place was too perfect for it to be made by demonic claws. Worse, high above him he could see a precise opening in the trees that flooded the center of the pit with a golden light. Turning around towards the darkness through which he'd run, he realized there was a very precise opening in the wall. If he didn't know better, he'd say it was an entrance. But the tracks ended here and that could only mean one thing.

"Kyrie!" he shouted, looking around the new location, trying to see where she could be, "Kyrie!"

"Nero!" his head whipped to the side at the loud shout of his name, "Behind you!"

Nero spun around, brining his sword up just in time to block the first attack from the demon. The demonic creature that stood in front of him was the most advanced yet--and probably the most deadly. Shaped like a massive scorpion, the demon's tail swung back and forth menacingly as its front claws clicked loudly together. Nero blocked its front claws just fine but over the thing's head he saw the stinger move quickly towards him. That was going to be the problem. Jumping back he landed on the ground and faced his nemisis. His training told him never to look away from the demon but his heart made him glance to the side from where Kyrie's voice had come from. He thought he saw two shapes in the darkness but it could have been his imagination.

"Kyrie! Are you alright?!" he shouted over his shoulder as the demon lashed out and he braced himself against the attack.

"I'm fine!" she shouted back.

Nero gritted his teeth and disengaged the scorpion demon, jumping backwards as far as he could. The demon stayed where it was, whipping its tail back and forth in a predatory show. Nero swallowed thickly at the sight of the massive stinger that hung there, dripping heavy with poison. He had to get the demon to follow him, he had to lure it away so that Kyrie could get out. Tightening his grip on the blade, he glanced around to try and get a better grip on the battlefield but it was impossible. There wasn't enough time. He had to get the thing to pay attention to him and _only_ to him. Obviously the thing's eyesight wasn't very good. Fine, he was just going to have to use another one of it's senses. Plunging the Red Queen into the ground, Nero revved her. Fractures shot along the ground and the thing lurched towards him.

"Run Kyrie!" he shouted running forward, swinging the Red Queen as hard as he could into one of the joints in the demon's exoskeleton. Through the gap in the creature's legs he saw Kyrie and the boy run out of the shadows. They were both beat up and scared but alive. Relief coursed through him. They were alive and that was what mattered. The creature jerked towards them but Nero dug his feet in, "I don't think so buddy, its just you and me here!"

He broke off from the creature and stepped back, kicking off the ground he rolled across the ground between the creatures arms. Landing on his feet he darted forward, he avoided the stinger as he slashed three of the demon's hind legs off. Off balance, the demon lurched to the side. Sensing his opening, Nero kicked off the ground once more, but this time he twisted his body and landed on the demons back. It screeched in protest, lurching wildly as Nero twisted around to maintain his footing. He raised the Red Queen high above his head and brought the point down to the juncture of the demon's head and the rest of its body. Plunging in the gap between two of the armored plates, jerking it to sever the head. It went flying as the demon slammed into the ground. Nero barely had time to leap free as it did. Landing on the ground beside the creature, Nero turned around to look at the entrance of the tunnel.

Kyrie stood there, half framed in the darkness.

She'd clearly sent the boy ahead but was unwilling to leave without him. Her dress was torn and stained from running through the forrest and her hair had fallen free of its practical style, the strawberry blonde strands falling to just past her shoulders. She looked scared out of her wits but still unwilling to run and leave him behind. His eyes quickly scanned her but he couldn't see any injuries past the scrapes and cuts that came with running through the woods. Shouldering the Red Queen, Nero started towards her. She didn't say anything but her eyes never left his. It was clear her fear almost beyond words. Nero felt worry curl inside him but it was eclipsed by the relief at seeing her alive. As long as she was alive they could find a way to help her. She'd done the right thing by sending the boy through. The tunnel was relatively protected and with any luck more of the Order would be here soon.

A hiss reached his ears.

Not like the ones the demon made, this hiss was like a kettle being heated over the fire. Like something hot was being pushed farther. Time seemed to slow as Nero looked at the body of the scorpion demon. He hadn't expected it to disintegrate right away, but now he saw that it didn't seem to be disintegrating at all. It was trembling though, reacting on some invisible force since the head was laying a bit away from the body. The blood that had spurted when he'd severed its head had slowed to the barest trickle. As if the blood was being used for something. Nero watched as the tremors worked their way up the body, getting more and more violent as they continued. By the time they reached the base of the tail, he had a sickening feeling of what was going to happen. Kyrie was right in the way, right in the path of the body. Nero's heart leapt into his throat as the realization of what was about to happen crashed into him.

There was no time to scream, no time to do anything but _move_.

It was as though time ceased to exist. Nero was aware of everything, of the trembling of the demon, of the wind on the back of his neck and the dull sound of his boots hitting the mud, of the paralyzed woman standing in harm's way. Most of all he was aware of the trembling that worked its way across the demons body, leading to the final, post-morteum attack. Those were the worst. the ones the Order always told you to get the hell out of the way of. But there was no getting out of the way of this, not with Kyrie standing paralyzed there. He was aware of all that was happening but none of those things seemed to happen fast enough. All that mattered was Kyrie. Getting to her, making sure she was safe. Nero got to her just as the stinger was fired. He had no time to draw the Red Queen, no time to fire Blue Rose. No time to do anything but place himself in front of her, throwing his right hand out desperately as though by touching the projectile he could save them both.

He barely felt the singer plunge through his hand.

Barely felt it as it shattered his wrist and carved a pathway down his forearm, poison injecting into his skin as it went. He didn't feel it as it the wicked curved tip dislocated his elbow on its way out of his forearm, leaving a mess of ruined meat and shattered bone in its wake. The stinger bounced to the ground where it rolled back towards the body before both of them lay still. The small part of his mind that told him it was shock. That the lack of pain was anything but a good thing, because as he looked ahead he could see what was visible of his skin turning brown and white as it was cooked by the poison. The rest of him couldn't see the negative side to not being able to feel. Especially not when he watched the demon finally disintegrate _through_ the gaping hole in his forearm. Dimly he thought he heard someone screaming but for the life of him, he couldn't place who it was.

"Nero--_Nero_!"

Kyrie watched as Nero didn't respond to the call of his name. A part of her still felt paralyzed by fear. This was not how things were supposed to go. She'd gone out to the forrest, intent on picking some herbs for tea along with another young boy in the care of the Order when the demon's had come out of nowhere. Kyrie knew she wasn't a fighter so she'd done what she was supposed to, she'd run. She'd tried to make it back to the Order but there were too many of them. So she'd taken the boy wherever the path was clearest. Before they could get far they'd been cornered and pushed into a tunnel by the scorpion demon. It was only when they were still that Kyrie realized the demon couldn't figure out where they were. So she'd held the boy close and made sure they were hidden in the shadows and held themselves very still.

She'd prayed to Sparda that someone from the order would see they were gone and come to look for them. After all it wasn't as if people needed hours and hours to pick herbs. And in those prayers she'd asked for Nero's protection. She knew the silver haired warrior wouldn't let anyone tell him he couldn't come to save her. Credo would organize the search parties and the people who would come for them. Nero was injured, he shouldn't do it but she knew he would all the same. She'd heard fighting, heard Knights close by but she'd been too afraid to call out to them in fear of attracting another demon. And then both her hope and her fear had been realized when she saw Nero come running through the darkness with the Red Queen and the Blue Rose at his side. But those feelings were nothing compared to how she felt, watching him slowly lower his torn arm.

She knew he was in shock, that was the only way to explain what was happening to him. Casting her eyes through the darkness, Kyrie wondered if she could get to the herbs. But there was a good chance that anything valuable had been thrown aside when she'd run with the boy. She'd sent him ahead to go and get help but if she didn't do something soon Nero was going to be beyond help before they got there. Taking a step forward she realized her legs were shaking so badly she almost fell flat on her face. Balling her fists she forced her legs to move towards him as his hand dropped to by his side, dangling there like it was nothing but a raw piece of meat. Very little blood dripped onto the ground and she realized that his forearm had been virtually cooked by the poison the demon's stinger had injected into it. His arm was even thinner now and hung in a way that Kyrie had never see before. Like there were no more bones in it.

"Nero--Nero look at me," her voice was terrified and breathless to her own ears, "Nero please!" she cried, finding some kind of strength in the hysteria that choked her, "Nero!"

Slowly his quicksilver eyes slid towards her. They were uncomprehending, as if he'd never really seen her before. In that moment he didn't look like the young man she knew but rather like the young boy that the Order had brought to them. The one who had stood there defiantly even as the other orphans hid behind the robes of the priests that had brought them there. Even then he had been defiant and angry and everything that a Knight of the Order shouldn't be and yet Kyrie could not take her eyes off him. Over time he'd proven himself to be defiant, headstrong and yet he was still one of the best Knights the Order had ever seen. But as he looked at her he did not look Knightly, he looked like he was about to fall unconscious. Kyrie's eyes widened as he swayed dangerously on his feet,

She moved forward as quickly as he could as his legs buckled and they both fell to the ground.

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**Next time, Kyrie and Nero wait for a rescue that may or may not get there in time and we spend a bit more time hanging with Credo and the not-so-knightly gang. **

**Please review! I know this is a smaller fandom but your reviews make me want to write! And if you review, that'll remind me to update which'll make me update which gets you more story!**

**so review!**


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